Many of you have been following CDR’s efforts to establish an Independent Living Center in Ontario County to serve Ontario, Wayne and Yates counties.

We received excellent news yesterday!

By working closely with Senator Michael Nozzolio, our bill PASSED THE NEW YORK STATE SENATE!
Here’s what the process looks like in legalese:

S07264 Actions:

BILL NO S07264A
03/25/2008 REFERRED TO EDUCATION
05/20/2008 REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
06/06/2008 AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
06/06/2008 PRINT NUMBER 7264A
06/11/2008 REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO RULES
06/18/2008 ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1970
06/18/2008 PASSED SENATE
06/18/2008 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
06/18/2008 referred to education

While we celebrate the third line from the bottom, let me call your attention to the bottom two lines. We’re still stuck in the Assembly Education Committee. The Assembly’s version of our bill has been stuck in the Education Committee since May 15th (it spent the month prior misplaced in the Higher Education Committee). In the meantime, the Assembly has told us they won’t move it because the State Education Department (SED) is opposing it.

SED is opposing our bill because there is no new appropriation with it. When we pointed out that there doesn’t have to be an appropriation, they agreed, but didn’t change their position. Keep in mind, this is the same SED that when there was new funding appropriated to the Independent Living network, SED said they would not give us any funding for Ontario County because we were not an established ILC. Now we have a bill to establish an Ontario County ILC, but they won’t give us that because there in no funding. (See also: http://rochestercdr.org/wordpress/?p=19#more-19)

Other sources in Albany say that the Assembly isn’t willing to move the bill because they are controlled by Democrats and the bill was introduced by a Republican, Assemblymember Brian Kolb. While this doesn’t normally stop bills that are primarily of local effect, like ours, Assemblymember Kolb is particularly unpopular with the Democrats right now.

First, he opposed the Gay Marriage legislation passed by the Assembly:

http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=07752

Then, he joined a lawsuit against Governor Paterson for directing State Agencies to recognize Gay Marriages performed elsewhere:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080615/NEWS01/806150356/1004/NEWS02

While the Center for Disability Rights is a strong supporter of civil rights for all people, we do not believe that people with disabilities in Wayne, Ontario and Yates counties should continue to go unserved because Assemblymember Kolb doesn’t support Gay Marriage. It’s unrelated.

Ideas need to be judged on their own merit. Having an Independent Living Center in Ontario is a good idea whose time has come. Whether the hold up is SED or Assemblymember Kolb’s popularity, it’s time for our Democratic leaders in the Assembly, particularly Assemblymember Susan John on the Education Committee, to make this idea become reality.